My writing music to this was the album We Are The Royal by Royal Republic – they make awesome music, make sure to check them out ;)

Thanks a lot to the lovely Emily, who betaed this and helped with ideas! :)

I hope you guys like it, I would love hear your opinions! This is a Threeshot, so two more chapters to come ;)

(2300 Words)

Under The Surface

Part 1

New Assignments

The flag of the United States of America gently blew in the wind, a blotch of colour against the grey sky hanging over the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley. Rafael Barba strode into the lobby of the giant building, not sparing a glance for the CIA logo that was emblazoned on the opposite wall – he'd walked through this place a thousand times before, and the excitement and awe of his first days as an agent had died down long ago.

On the contrary, he had mixed feelings about coming back here; he'd been forced to take a leave of absence over the last weeks, and the call he'd received this morning unsettled him more than he wanted to admit. He still hadn't received any news about what was going to happen with him now, and the vagueness of the call, containing only the order to come to his boss' office immediately, was enough to make him feel nervous underneath the cool facade.

A few people greeted him on his way to the elevator, and he answered with a politeness that had been practiced for so long that it now was automatic. Rafael was glad that nobody got onto the elevator with him; it gave him the time he needed to collect himself. He stared back at his reflection in the mirrored walls, avoiding his own gaze and instead checking his attire.

Taking a deep breath, he fixed his tie and wiped fuzz from the shoulder of his black suit jacket, urging himself to keep calm. It wouldn't help him at all if he lost his mind now; he needed to appear as if everything was back to normal, even though it wasn't.

The elevator stopped smoothly and the doors opened; Rafael took his time with getting off, checking his phone while walking through the endless hallways. As if anybody called him – his job was consuming his life, and during his leave he'd realised that there weren't any people waiting for him, except maybe his mother. How had he not noticed how lonely his life was? He'd probably blocked it out.

"Agent Barba, good morning," the lady sitting in his boss' anteroom greeted him with a smile and immediately pressed a button on the telephone, informing the man inside the office that Barba had arrived in hushed words. Rafael tried to appear friendly as he nodded at her in acknowledgment, but he knew that he failed – friendliness would probably never become his strength. On the other hand, he also didn't need to be nice; he was an interrogator, a man for the jobs that needed more drastic ways of persuasion, and it worked for him.

"You can go in now."

Rafael was glad to see that his hand didn't tremble as he pushed the door open and entered the office of his boss, Section Head Dodds. The man's expression was neutral as he motioned Rafael to sit down, uttering short words of welcome.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?" Rafael tried not to appear as if he was in any way worried about this meeting, casually leaning back in the comfortable leather chair. Dodds closed the file he had been reading and mirrored his pose.

"Do you want something to drink? Coffee, water?" he offered in a polite tone, as if they were two friends who just met up, not a superior officer who was about to tell his agent if his career would end soon.

"No, thank you, Sir," Rafael declined, even though he would have loved to have something to occupy his hands with. He tried to mask this sign of nervousness by folding them, placing them on top of his thighs.

"How was your leave? Did you relax?"

No, it echoed in his mind; he'd coped horribly with not having to work. Never before had he noticed that the TV programmes were getting dumber with each day, and that he didn't have any hobbies, except work and going for a run every morning. "Oh, yes. It was a good opportunity to let off some steam."

Dodds nodded, and Rafael was sure that he could see right through his lie, even though he didn't let it on. Leaning forwards, the man supported his forearms on the desk and said: "Well, I guess you won't be disappointed if I tell you that the decision to put you back into active duty was made yesterday."

"That's good news," Rafael replied, relief flooding his insides, and he couldn't quite keep it from seeping into his voice as well. He actually had no idea what he would have done if they had forced him to drop out of the CIA, and he thanked whoever was in charge of the universe that he didn't have to spare a thought.

"Unfortunately, you won't have time to dust off your desk right now. We have a mission for you," Dodds explained with a small smirk, leaning over to his phone and pushing a button. "Marcy, you can send Agent Benson in now."

Rafael cocked an eyebrow, and Dodds added: "You'll be assigned a partner for this mission."

"I work alone," Rafael replied stiffly, hearing the door open behind him.

"Not on this case," Dodds shot back with an authoritative undertone that signalled Rafael that he wouldn't change anything by disagreeing. "Meet your new partner, Rafael."

Reluctantly, Rafael stood up from his chair and turned around, Dodds' voice fading slightly into the background as his eyes fell on the agent standing by the door. "May I introduce you? Agent Olivia Benson, this is Agent Rafael Barba."

"Agent Barba, it's a pleasure to meet you," Agent Benson said, a small smile playing around her lips, and Rafael took the hand she offered him, shaking it more curtly than he intended. He tried to mask his irritation, hiding behind a mask of indifference. If he was honest, he greatly disliked the thought of having to work with a partner; he'd never needed one before, and he thought that he functioned a lot better when nobody got in his way.

Of course, he didn't know Agent Benson and what she was capable of, but in his opinion, she could be as good as she wanted, he didn't want to have a partner. He let her go past first as Dodds asked them to sit down, and it gave him time to eye her up; she was about an inch taller than him, wearing her chocolate brown hair in a bun. Black ankle boots and pants matched a bottle green blouse and a grey blazer. Her brown eyes surveyed him just the same way as he sat down on the second chair in front of Dodds' desk, intelligence and a little bit of curiosity showing off in her gaze.

"I'm very sorry that you're getting such short notice for this mission, but the cover of the agent who was originally assigned to it is already blown, according to an informant. So we had to change everything around – you two are our Plan 'll find all information at safe house gamma."

OoO

Rafael didn't like this situation at all. He was sitting in a car next to Benson, on the way to Washington, and couldn't get the thought out of his head that something about his new partner was fishy. Dodds had never assigned him to tasks that required a partner, as he knew that he didn't work well with most of the other agents in his division. Normally, he really wasn't the person for conspiracy theories, but this time he found it more than suspicious that Dodds paired him with this Agent Benson – a person he couldn't remember having seen around Langley before – just as he returned from a temporary suspension.

In his job he'd already seen pigs fly, and he decided that he wouldn't trust her, and be cautious about every single one of his steps. He didn't care if they were searching for something to sack him with – they could do that for as long as they wanted, he wouldn't give them anything to work with.

"So, you must be excited," he said, deciding that it was time to break the silence hanging thickly in the air between them. "Your first undercover mission?"

"Not at all," she replied, her eyes concentrated on the highway, but he could still tell that his words weren't to her liking. "I've been on several assignments abroad before. You're not the only agent with experience in the CIA."

Rafael smirked and and couldn't keep himself from being snarky as he responded: "In CIA terms, Canada can barely be called abroad. It's like saying you have experience with lions even though you only ever cuddled with a cat."

He couldn't use an inexperienced partner, and he also said that out loud, adding to his little explanation.

"Don't you dismiss me like that! I was in Afghanistan, gathering information on Al-Qaida members. See, I earned my jockstrap!" Benson was definitely pissed about his arrogant tone, but he didn't feel sorry at all.

"Oh please, the sandbox isn't the same as going undercover," he answered in a dismissive tone and turned his face towards the window.

Moments later, the tires screeched and the car came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the highway, nearly causing one of the many cars behind them to crash into them.

"What the fuck?" Rafael cursed loudly; his seatbelt had cut into his shoulder and now it was throbbing. Benson was glaring daggers at him, and if looks could kill... well, he would have slumped onto the asphalt a lot less gracefully than he did now. Maybe he should have thought about his words a little bit more carefully, he considered as he saw the car disappear in the thick traffic heading to Washington. This surely wasn't the best way to start a partnership.

OoO

Rafael had been fuming when he'd called a cab for himself – luckily, the driver hadn't asked why he had to pick him up on a busy highway – and he'd been prepared to give Benson his detailed opinion about kicking someone out of the car on the middle of the highway, but by the time he managed to get through the traffic jam, his anger had already disappeared. He'd also realised that he probably had to be glad that she hadn't kicked his butt on the spot; she seemed to be as sultry as he could be, and he swore to himself that he would be his usual, controlled self around her and keep his sarcasm at bay. How hard could it be to tolerate her for the short time they would have to work together?

OoO

To say that Olivia was annoyed was a complete understatement; this Agent Barba had managed to push her buttons within the first half hour – she had to grant him that he'd been pretty effective, and that not everyone was capable of doing that. It had satisfied her greatly to see him in the rear mirror, a flabbergasted expression on his face, and she thought that he'd deserved that.

When she'd been informed that Dodds had an undercover mission and a partner for her the previous day, she'd indeed been excited – Barba had a good reputation in the agency, and she always liked to work with professionals. But he'd proven that a good reputation wasn't everything; maybe he'd been working alone for too long to remember that you weren't supposed to talk to a partner who was your age as if he or she was a rookie. Instead of wanting to share experience she now felt the desire to shoot him.

And her mood didn't really get better as she rolled her suitcase with clothes and equipment into the living room of the safe house and opened the file on the laptop that contained all information about their cover identities and the case they would be investigating. Frowning, she scrolled through the pages and started to read through the details about their targets as she heard the front door being opened.

For a moment, she was bothered by the person that was definitely standing in her blind spot, but then she could smell an expensive cologne, a scent that she knew from her car, and she didn't look up from the screen as she asked casually: "How's your butt, Barba?"

"Still bouncing on the beltway," he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm, and she smirked as he took off the jacket of his three piece suit, draping it over an armchair.

She didn't really expect him to apologise for the way he spoke with her earlier, and she was proven correct; he didn't even mention the incident as he disappeared to pack the stuff that was on the list from the agency – for missions that took place in circles of higher society, the agency provided clothing.

As soon as he was done, he came back to the living room and took the laptop from her hands unceremoniously, reading over the first few bits of information before he threw the laptop onto the couch, mumbling: "They can't be serious."

"Unfortunately, they are. I'm not too happy about this either, but I guess we have no other choice than to work with what they're giving us. Don't you agree, Rafael?"

He grumbled something incoherently before grabbing their fake passports from the small package that had been lying on the coffee table, scowling.

For a moment, he really wished that they hadn't gotten him out of suspension.